The process of building out an area or constructing a building occurs in many phases. During this process, a number of different types of workers are required and it may be necessary to complete the construction in steps. As a result, frequently contractors damage floors, stairs, countertops, and other finished work in the process of completing other tasks and moving in and out heavy equipment.
During the last stages of house or building construction, and after floor and countertop materials already have been installed, finish work such as painting, caulking, finish carpentry, and appliance and lighting fixture installation is typically done. This finish work can often cause significant damage to plastic laminates, linoleum, hardwood, ceramic tiles, and carpets before the building is finished, sold, or moved into. Heavy tools, caulking and paint buckets, and appliance edges are particularly damaging.
Traditionally, the only protection, if any, given to floors and countertops during the final stages of construction has been a thin fabric drop cloth or a thin plastic sheet such as the 0.002 inch thick self-adhesive plastic sheet. These sheets help protect against paint or caulking splatters and soil on workers' feet, but do not protect against gouges, scrapes, abrasion, or other damage and breakage due to impact of objects or moving of equipment/tools.
Fabric throw rugs or moving van-style blankets can be used but these absorb liquids, snag and catch on appliances, and do not protect against sharp and forceful impact. Also, these covers are bulky and heavy to transport and store.
Other products are designed to protect floors or walls independently, but not both at the same time with one product. These products leave the base of walls and the perimeter of the floor exposed to damage. It is to be appreciated that where separate products are used to protect the floor and the wall, the lower section of walls, including the baseboards, can be easily damaged on job sites. Additionally, present products do not protect from liquid spills occurring at or near the junction between the wall and floor.
In view of the current state of the art, an improved fiberboard sheet was developed as disclosed in United States Patent Publication No. US 2014/0224391 and U.S. Design application No. 29/497,796 (filed Jul. 29, 2014), which are both incorporated herein by reference. Although this fiberboard sheet provides protection to a floor surface when multiple fiberboard sheets are used, the fiberboard sheets can separate from one another and expose the floor between the separated sheets. In order to address this issue, the end edges of adjacent fiberboard sheets are overlapped. However, during use of the fiberboard sheets, the sheets can move relative to one another and allow a space to form between the fiberboard sheets. Also, sawdust, screws, nails, clips, etc. that fall on the top surface of a fiberboard sheet can work its way between the overlapped sheet and onto a floor surface during the use of the fiberboard sheets. Such materials can cause damage to the floor surface once such materials are in contact with the floor surface and workers walk on the fiberboard sheets and cause such materials to be pressed into the floor surface. Furthermore, liquid spills on the fiberboard sheets can seep between the overlapped fiberboard sheets and onto a floor surface and thereby potentially damage the floor surface. Generally, a user must overlap the fiberboard sheets and then get on his/her knees and cut and paste adhesive tape over the overlapped seam of the fiberboard sheets. For many workers, getting up and down on ones knees to tape over overlapped fiberboard sheets is time consuming, can be difficult for some workers, and requires additional materials (such a tape) at the jobsite to complete the installation of the fiberboard sheet over a surface to be protected.
In view of the current state of floor coverings, there is a need for a floor covering that is easy to use, protects a floor surface against sharp and forceful impact, protects the lower section of walls (including the baseboards), and which can be easily connected together.